Talkin' Ballocks

Our first ever in-person episode! We watched England play from a pub in Dublin, surrounded by Irish fans booing every England touch. Fitting, because England served up 74 minutes of pure stress before scraping past DR Congo 2-1, rescued (again) by Harry Kane. Sam and Ash review the great escape, hand out brutal player ratings, and preview a terrifying last-16 tie against Mexico at altitude. Plus t...

The group stage is done, the knockouts are here, and our draft is somehow locked dead level at 95-95. This week Sam and Ash react to a nervy England 2-0 Panama (job done, but are they actually any good?), then predict the entire World Cup 2026 bracket — every knockout game, the upsets, and who lifts the trophy. Spoiler: we may have talked ourselves into England's first final in 60 years. Plus:...

The World Cup has officially gone weird. This week England follow up their 4-2 Croatia win by getting held 0-0 by Ghana — and a Ghanaian witch doctor reckons he cursed Harry Kane to make it happen. Sam and Ash unpack the madness: the curse, the VAR that "went for a coffee" and denied Ghana a clear penalty, and whether the Croatia high was a false dawn. Also this week: Ronaldo goes from w...

England finally turned up — a 4-2 win over Croatia, the first time they've won a World Cup game by that scoreline since the 1966 final. Sam and Ash break down the best England performance in years, then rank all 48 teams at the 2026 World Cup and call the Golden Boot race. This week: FIFA's maddest new rule yet (sent off for covering your mouth?!), the governing body forcing a Toronto shop...

The World Cup is back, and Week 1 delivered pure chaos. Ash and Sam dissect the referee who went viral for mumbling complete gibberish during a major VAR decision, the Somali ref denied entry to the USA over alleged terror links after FIFA had already cleared him, three red cards in one opening game, and the USA hammering four past Paraguay. Then it's all the usual nonsense: the Where On Earth gue...

Welcome to the very first episode of Talkin' Ballocks—the sports comedy podcast where serious football debates meet complete and utter nonsense. Hosted by long-time mates Sam and Ash, this is your new weekly hub for riding the emotional roller coaster of the World Cup 2026 through a proper English lens. To kick off Episode 1, the lads dive into "Pure Ballocks" to dissect the most rid...